Daring to Dream Big
Cultivating our dreams empowers the future we hope for.
Our hopes & dreams are more powerful than we think.
When we share our hopes and dreams, someone else might feel so moved that they will combine their power with ours to make it happen.
This simple dynamic is at the heart of how we influence our future.
Last month, an association of 2,500 women, with an average age of 73, succeeded in getting the EU court to admit that governments could be sued for their inaction against global warming. Will they see a perfectly sustainable world in their lifetime? Maybe not. What’s important is that it’s a step towards the future they have been dreaming about.
Futurists say that historically, it only takes 30% of people having the same dream to cause significant social and cultural shifts.
However, there’s a widespread belief that there’s not much we can do. This belief comes with a feeling of powerlessness: power can only belong to a small group of people who don’t have our best interests in mind.
The feeling of powerlessness passes on from generation to generation. Some see it as a mark of collective generational trauma.
Regaining our sense of future power
Empowerment is not something we need to receive from the outside world; it’s something to cultivate inside ourselves.
However, a common belief is that power comes with greed, manipulation, brutality, and human suffering. This belief leaves us with two choices.
Choice number 1: Don’t be the bad guy and forget your dreams. Choice number 2: Work towards the dream and embrace the classic bad guy’s moves because this is how the world works. I think that this is a false choice.
There is Power Over and Power With.
Power can be creative and not just destructive.
Using your privilege to elevate the collective experience is a form of power. Consciously choosing to be collaborative kind or generous when we don’t have to is also a form of healthy power. Being creative to avoid the default unsustainable ways to act is healthy power. Because it’s not the default way, it often takes some courage.
Healthy power plays out around us daily. It’s here. We don’t see it amplified in the media because it’s not the most dollar-making-clickbait.
We can choose to use our power in every action and decision we make daily. Voting is just one way for an individual to exercise their power. Everything counts.
Five ways to build a sense of self-empowerment
TLDR: Believing does most of the work.
I’ve learned about the five ways of building self-empowerment through futurist Jane McGonigal, PhD, from the Institute for the Future. The following list is based on research. These ways of building self-empowerment were common in ancient human traditions and rituals that are still present today. They overlap with what happens in sessions with coaches, counselors, spiritual teachers, and physical therapists, too.
1. Mastery in my life
We can feel empowered by doing something that seemed impossible initially but getting all the support to get there. There’s a confidence that comes from succeeding in proving to ourselves that we can achieve great stuff. For example, this is a side effect of training with a group to run a marathon or traveling overseas alone for the first time. The key here is to find a dream, chunk it into achievable pieces, and find the resources and the people to help us get through the finish line. We can find these in traditional rites of passage worldwide, especially for teens entering adulthood.
This way is the most powerful way to fuel our sense of power.
2. Mastery in other people’s lives
Knowing about life stories of people doing things that we admire. We have so much access through books, documentaries, or even hearing it directly from them. Through their stories, we are reminded that getting beyond the unimaginable is humanely possible.
3. Encouragement
That’s when people we respect authentically tell us that they believe in us, even if we don’t. They can come in many forms: mentors, teachers, guides, friends, communities, and partners.
4. Emotional & physiological states
I often get back to this: being in good mental or physical shape is not an option.
For people who work on issues of human rights, climate action, and social justice, intense anger and grief often emerge. They dream big for a better future and, at the same time, face disappointment in the current reality.
Not tending to emotional and physiological states can lead to burnout and sometimes trauma. Having the right support collectively creates better conditions for the resilience, creativity, and collaboration necessary to achieve goals. The same goes for any type of social group, such as work teams, families, etc.
5. Imaginal experiences and dream building
A common mental habit is focusing on what we don’t want to happen. This habit has helped us survive as a species but can be overused. Imagination is one beautiful human capacity that can increase our sense of future power.
The idea is to immerse ourselves in how it will be—imagining what we will feel, think, and do. Somehow, our brain doesn’t know the difference between imagination and reality.
Imaginal experiences are detailed stories of what life will be like when the dream has become a reality. They can be visual, like a vision board, written in a journal entry, narrated like a story, or interactive, like role-playing. Some use lucid dreaming—in so many ways.
Knowing is not enough. Experiencing it fully is needed.
We know we’re building self-empowerment when there’s a sense of aliveness, an energy of vitality that comes with it. Feelings like excitement, motivation, and inspiration that resonate with body sensations are part of it.
I hope that some of you will have fun exploring. And maybe inspire you to support the kids and adults you care about in new ways.
Self-empowerment in your life
What feelings come up for you at the idea of dreaming big?
What’s a time when you felt more self-empowered?
How did you achieve this, through…
mastery in your life?
witnessing mastery in others’ lives?
maintaining a healthy physical and mental state?
encouragement?
a dream building of imaginal experience?
Which of the five ways would you like to cultivate more moving forward?
What’s the first step you can commit to cultivating your self-empowerment?
Wholesome Events
My life is going through some changes, and due to this uncertainty, the Wholesome Groups and The Wholesome Circles are taking a break. I'm looking forward to their return. More updates soon!
East Bay
June 21st - Garden of Memory - Oakland
The Garden of Memory is a music festival in a beautiful building transformed by Julia Morgan's architects and later by Aaron Green, a protégé of Frank Lloyd Wright. “Getting lost is part of the experience as guests climb up and down the three floors through a maze of gardens, cloisters, alcoves, stairwells, fountains and other architectural elements, which rise into vaulted ceilings.” Get your ticket early and arrive early.
June 19th - Community CircleSing - Berkeley
It is open to all levels of singing. You sing in a circle, every more than 40 people usually. One leader at the center improvises a sound and asks small groups of 4-5 people to repeat a sound. A couple of people beatbox to create a beat. Magically, a collective song emerges. No one takes themselves too seriously. All you need to know is that, after two hours, everyone beams with happiness and joy.
San Francisco
June 8th - Gamelan Performance - the Golden Gate Park, San Francisco Botanical Garden.
Their Jegog performance and workshop will be free. They also have a ticketed performance, Semar Pegulingan, in the Celebration Garden.
Random times - The Raining Chainsaws
The Raining Chainsaws is a diverse team of artists who produce original shows and events in their studio. They host art-making and game nights for a growing community of creative people. They also offer free public events in SF, including family-friendly parades.
Their events happen when they happen. Call (415)-WORDBUG to know.
Wholesome Artist
In this post, I’m featuring Richie Rhombus’ Release art piece. I’m in awe of how Richie sees the world and turns his compassionate insights into deep, beautiful questions wrapped in beautiful art. He expresses himself through visual art, live performances, videos, cards, etc. He is a true alchemist; his art often reminds us to dream bigger.
Lately, he has documented changemakers from the past 100 years, one from every different country in the world. Check out his work called Radical Lives (Ink and watercolor drawings).
I invite you to buy from his online store or support Richie on Patreon.
It's so important for people to keep their inspiration close to their heart. So many times the day to day gets in the way but if we make a little space for wonder and optimism in the unlikeliest of places then we will wind up where we need to be.